


Pulse

by canttaketheskyfromme



Series: What's in a Word? [2]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Cigarettes and minty chewing gum, Drinking, F/M, Married-to-the-job types, Sex, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2019-04-15 23:16:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14151492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canttaketheskyfromme/pseuds/canttaketheskyfromme
Summary: Using seismic sense, Earthbenders can feel shifts in pulse from the people around them. It's a pretty good indicator of when someone is lying- or when someone is harboring a more affectionate kind of emotion about them as well.Lin is no stranger to either of those situations. However, what surprises her is to feel those nervous, stuttering heartbeats coming from one of her officers.Most days, she's able to ignore it. One night, she isn't.





	Pulse

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SheMalfoy13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheMalfoy13/gifts).



> Written per the request of the lovely SheMalfoy13. Dedicated to her, and to any of you who wanted more sex scenes in Youngblood. Thank you for helping me realize that I love these two together in any capacity. Thank you for helping me to assuage my finished-story hangover. Thank you for forcing me to learn how to write sex because frankly it's still a little terrifying to me.
> 
> This story is not intended to exist within the Youngblood universe.

There almost always came a point in the night where Headquarters cleared and Lin could finally put up her feet and relax.

And spirits knew she needed it lately. The city had deteriorated to total shit after Kuvira's attacks. Gang activity was on its perpetual rise, an increase of looting and theft-related attacks threatened to overwhelm the Force that was already stretched paper-thin. Not to mention that one couldn't even navigate in the city anymore unless it was via airship; construction crews overwhelmed the entire downtown area, clearing scraps of brick and metal and general destruction from the battle. Raiko, in his irredeemable moronity, had prioritized city rehabilitation- prioritized it over other things, like street maneuverability for ambulances and the police. Lin had tried to warn him, but hadn't listened, and she supposed she shouldn't allow herself to be surprised over things like this anymore. But still, she was getting whiplash from the in-air descents, queasy from the ships' jolting takeoffs and bumpy landings. And it seemed like she couldn't catch a break- not like  _that_  was a new concept.

Lin banished the unhappy thoughts from her mind, leaning back in her metal seat and propping her heels more decidedly upon the harsh metal surface of her desk, assessing herself. She was wound too tight; pissy and irritable and moments from snapping and lashing out against nothing- an attitude she'd learned long ago nobody wanted to fuck with, so it was one she kept to herself. And yet, even in the midst of the irritability, there was something hurting deep in her chest and the palms of her hands that told her she didn't want to be alone right now, despite her shit attitude. And although the sting of loneliness was notoriously more difficult to banish, she accomplished that too, heaving herself from the stiff-backed chair and over to the little seating area she kept in the far corner of her office, unplugging a squat glass beaker containing a deep maroon alcohol and sloshing it none too elegantly into a glass. She didn't bother replacing the lid as she meandered around the familiar office, sipping at the liquid. She'd almost certainly be returning for more.

The alcohol was bitter and smooth and yet two glasses' worth still didn't help. Rather it just served to heighten her already turbulent emotions. Lin closed her eyes in defeat, exhaling and concentrating on a pair of light, familiar footfalls of one of her officers as they approached her office. She straightened an arm towards the doorway and gave a succinct tug; the door pulled open.

The man who pushed into her office was worlds different than the boy who'd joined the Force years back. Mako had filled out- in brain as well as brawn, and he'd rapidly become a reputable and accomplished member of Lin's team. Lin composed her face into a neutral expression as she allowed her eyes to sweep over the rather endearing, surprised look on his face as his gaze found hers, working its way from the floor and lingering a little too long just beneath her collarbone. She smirked.

"How do you always know when I'm outside?" He asked, entering the room.

"Top-secret abilities only bestowed upon the acting Chief, Detective. I know where each of my officers are at all times."

An easy smile fell across the boy's lips. "I always knew you were amazing, Chief, but that's impressive even for you."

Lin rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the amused warmth that spread in her chest from his words. She waved her fingers carelessly at the papers in his hand, determined to remain in her more comfortable, sullen mood. "Did you come here for a reason, or just to fling hollow compliments in my general direction?"

That did the trick. Mako colored and bowed his head, unfolding the map in his hand and spreading it haphazardly across the desk top. "Updated city map," he explained without preamble. Good man, Lin thought- he never was one for needless chatter. "Just brought this back from the city planner. Had to bug them for hours before they finally handed it over. Construction crews have pronounced a few more of the streets cleared- routes to the hospital are likely open again, so long as the ambulances are willing to drive roundabout routes."

Lin gritted her teeth around another spike in temper. "They'll make do. One would think Raiko would prioritize life-saving accessibility over city beauty, but I suppose the man can surprise me yet." She approached Mako, leaning over the pages beside him, just brushing the arm of his cloth uniform. A bold move- perhaps a little closer than she would have stood with any other officer, but the way his pulse leapt and thudded an uneven rhythm as she neared sent a thrill down Lin's spine.

Lin was no stranger to the rapid pounding of someone's pulse reverberating to the bottoms of her own metal-clad feet when it meant that someone found her attractive. And perhaps she understood that baiting the boy- a subordinate, a coworker- was not the smartest nor most insightful thing she could be doing this late at night, after her tumultuous week and two or three drinks. But she allowed it to happen anyway, because she'd be damned if the boy wasn't extremely good-looking, and his crush on her, the way his dark amber eyes dipped down her body again before he wrenched them back to her face, was tremendously endearing.

And there was something intoxicating about eliciting such a visceral response from him with just one touch.

Still, a corner of his mouth quirked despite the fact that his fingers were trembling on the metal desk top. "Need me to walk you through the small graphics, Chief?" He asked. "Lost your reading glasses this morning?"

"Let's just figure out which roads have actually been reopened, Detective. Maybe discern if any of them will be easy for wheeled ambulances again. Then we both can go home."

"Right you are." And the boy actually had the audacity to sound disappointed. He tugged at his hair as he leaned farther over the map, mussing it nicely from its usually slicked style, catching Lin's eye and coloring a little when he realized she was still looking at him and not down at the intricate little colored lines. Lin allowed her gaze to drop to the diagram first. Even her heartbeat had heightened a little.

It was a game they'd been playing at for months now, since Lin felt for the first time how rapidly the boy's pulse would accelerate each time she was nearby. She tested it- of course she tested it, sending a minute wink his way in training or brushing the pads of her fingertips casually across the sleeve of his trench, delighting in the visceral response, the way his face would color to a deep red, the way he'd gnaw on his bottom lip like an addict in detox- to control himself, she suspected. And yet the game they played was harmless; innocent. Mako would certainly not attempt anything. And Lin, well, she'd always been a sucker for the easy, flirtatious banter she could only find in a select few.

But then again, it had been a particularly hard few days. She shifted closer to the boy- damn it, but Firebenders were so warm- and inhaled the modestly applied scent of cologne that filled her nostrils. Mako's hands shook even harder now, and he balled one into a fist while pointing with the other.

"The opening at Sixth and Hei Bai finally gives us access to the bridge," he explained, pointing to a line of tiny messy characters that designated the street  _open_. "To the best of my knowledge, Raiko hasn't begun repairs in the south yet, which grants more maneuverability for us without the needless use of airships."

Lin frowned, evaluating the map. "Good catch. Find the other open routes- I'll write." She stretched across the desk to nab a pad of paper and pen. When she'd flipped to a blank page and given the pen a preparatory shake, Mako had bent farther over the map, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth. Lin concentrated through the flip in her gut at the sight. He really was quite good-looking.

They concentrated on the map in front of them for a few minutes more before Lin stood, brushing off her hands and evaluating the paper they'd covered with neat little characters beneath her critically. Even that success hadn't helped to soothe her jumpy mood. The boy's presence was certainly not helping either; she needed him out of the office.

"That about does it, thanks, Detective. One would think the construction crews would feel the need to more clearly communicate these things but until then- well, it just means more work for us." Everything normally did.

"I don't mind it." He grinned a little, fingering the hem of his uniform as he stepped back from the desk. Lin bent over it to put the finishing touches on their work, ignoring as best she could the way his pulse increased again. They were almost finished. And then she'd be able to return to her empty little apartment in peace and work on the whole elusive  _relaxing_  thing.

"These could have waited until morning, you know. Got an issue at home that makes you stay at so late at Headquarters working your ass off?"

His voice was soft. "I just like being alone with you, Chief."

And fuck, he wasn't supposed to say something like that. Especially not with so much of that charming, endearing honesty. That wasn't the way this game between them worked. Lin clenched the pen hard.  _Tell him to leave_ , she told herself.  _Say something abrasive to dismiss him_.

But instead her lips formed the words " _Are_  we alone?"

She felt him nod with her bending, move a little closer to where she was bent at the desk top. "Everyone's gone home for the night."

Spirits damn it all to hell.

Ever so slightly, Lin leaned back and brushed her ass against the front of his pants. And he did nothing- save a shocked twitch as pulse pounded even more roughly through the floor.

Lin released a single breath, well aware of her hastily concatenated composure shattering as she pressed her ass more intentionally against him. Mako moaned this time, a broken, gasping sound, and fell forward against her back, hands clutching the desk top at either side of her.

She could feel him pressing into her. He was already erect- and from the feeling, larger than some of her last lovers. Good for him, she thought, pushing her ass more insistently against him, drinking in the simpering moan that rushed from his lips at the touch.

He pressed his nose through her hair and, gently, his lips found the side of her neck.

And it was all over for him, really.

Lin clenched her hands into fists, bending the metal surface of the desk until it encased his hands, holding him rigid around her. Mako gasped, pressing his hips harder against her own. His lips traveled farther down her neck and she arched her head to give him better access. After the week she'd had- damn it, but she needed to be  _touched_. And if it happened by way of a young and nauseatingly charming Firebender, well, so be it. Lin pushed into the boy's grinding motions against her ass and he stooped to fit better against her. She closed her eyes.

"Chief," he whispered against her cheekbone. "Shit- Chief-"

Something about the word roused Lin- she stiffened against him, Mako's motions ceased immediately. He was still shaking, she noticed, shoulders and chest trembling hard against her back.

"Fuck," she whispered, freeing his hands from the table with a twitch of her hand. " _Fuck_."

He didn't move, just stood there with his eyes squeezed shut. Lin stepped away from him, running her fingers through her hair, desperately seeking composure. How she was going to come back from this, she didn't know. She'd never come on to a subordinate before- sure, she'd fucked plenty of private eyes and the hired laboratory technician and once even a pretty journalist she'd had to work closely with on a case, loathe as she was to admit the industry collusion, but never an  _officer_. Never a man or woman she'd have to see each day after the inevitably tense split.

"You can leave now," Lin ordered, surprised that she sounded much more confident than she felt.

Mako's eyes found hers and Lin swallowed at how much they'd darkened, clenching her jaw in a poor attempt to negate the insistent ache between her legs. He ran still-trembling fingers through his hair and, after a moment, turned towards the door.

Mako's fingers had just grazed the handle when he stopped. Lin watched the stoop of his head as he remained still for a moment longer, likely thinking.

And then Mako turned on his heel, taking a few long steps back over to Lin and crashing his lips against hers.

Lin gasped into his open mouth, stumbling backwards from the boy's momentum until he'd backed her against the tall window to her back. She tangled her fingers in his hair- spirits, but it was so  _soft_ , and dragged his mouth closer, licking past Mako's raw, bitten lower lip and tasting his tongue. He tasted of cigarettes, of strong coffee and minty chewing gum and she exhaled, pulling him even closer, yanking his hips back to rock against her own.

"Taste so good-" Mako moaned into her mouth. Lin jumped a little as his hands found their way to her hips, pressing her more firmly against him.

"It's just alcohol."

"No," he breathed. "You, it's  _you_ -"

And well, although it was a ridiculous idea, she wasn't about to  _argue_  with the boy, wouldn't have been able to anyway with the way he sucked her tongue into his mouth, his distracting fingers tracing the various seams of the plate until his palms cupped her breasts. She leaned into it, but the touch was muted through the metal.

"Take it off."

"How does- how do I-" he gasped, tugging the edges of her armor.

Lin rolled her eyes, biting her tongue to refrain from pointing out that he literally owned a set of the plate himself as she bent it, swiftly, from her body.

She got to assess him in the moment he hurriedly detached from her, lest the metal crash into his face. It wouldn't be the first time Lin had accidentally assaulted a lover in such a way and she was impressed by his foresight- that was, of course, before she became distracted by the flush high on the boy's cheeks, watching a bead of sweat as it trickled from his mussed hair and into the collar of his uniform.

She smirked as he unabashedly drank in her tight-fitting top. For such a bright boy, he really had no idea what he'd just gotten himself into.

His hands were on her again and his mouth had crashed once more against her own, and Lin pulled him tight, yanking at the buttons at his uniform as Mako's hands traveled the length of her torso, touching at her nipples and encircling her waist. Lin grabbed at the thick muscle in his shoulder as she slid the shirt from them, tracing the ridges lining his stomach. He was big; much larger than she was.

But that certainly didn't mean he had the upper hand here.

Lin pressed the tips of her fingers into his chest, walking Mako backward into the side of her desk, nudging him to lie flat against it. She held out his hands to either side of the surface, encasing them in the metal once more. Mako struggled halfheartedly against the bindings.

"Not gonna let me touch you, Chief?" His signature cocky grin looked even better with the aroused flush on his cheeks and his want-darkened irises.

"Not yet." She could still feel the rapid thud of his pulse as she swept the remaining papers and writing utensils from the desk's surface, straddling his waist. He lurched his hips upwards and moaned frustratedly when they made no contact. Lin leaned down to kiss at his neck, feathering her lips just above the pulse point before sucking on the spot, hard. He jerked beneath her.

"Oh, spirits, that feels good," he moaned. Lin sucked at it harder. "Everything feels good, even better than I thought-"

Lin smirked, stooping enough to brush her breasts against his bare chest. "And how long have you wanted to fuck me, Mako?"

"Ages," he gasped, cheeks blazing red. "Years-"

Lin sat up, sitting on his straining erection. Her pants were uncomfortable too, moist from the arousal, the throbbing in her clit only intensifying at the feeling of his cock against her. This- the distraction, the mindless fucking, the opportunity to see somebody so attractive merciless beneath her- it was what she'd needed that night.

"Well, today you get lucky."

A low moan rumbled from somewhere deep in his chest and Lin leaned down once more, licking at the straining tendons in his neck and worrying a nipple between her teeth, just brushing her hand against the tented front of his pants. If he was going to give her the fuck she needed, he'd have to want it.

His hips bucked upward into her hand as he struggled against the bindings. "Spirits," he moaned.

Lin traced the shape of his cock with one finger, probing at the wet area by the slit. Then she slid off of him, pushing down the soft gray pants of her uniform and the underpants beneath it, stepping out of them, leaving them unceremoniously crumpled on the office floor. Mako's face flushed again, eyes wide as saucers as she undid the belt and zipper at the front of his slacks, pulling them down to his thighs.

She eyed his cock, heavy and flushed. "I'm going to fuck you now, Mako."

He nodded.

Lin climbed back onto the desk and straddled his hips. "Of course, if that's what you want." She smirked.

He moaned something indiscernible.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that." She took his cock in her hand and stroked it once.

"Spirits- I said  _please_ ," Mako gasped. "Please fuck me, I need to feel you, please Chief-"

Lin smirked, lowering herself onto his cock.

His head fell backwards. "Oh fuck," he moaned. "Shit, fuck-"

"Eloquent," Lin commented rather breathlessly, adjusting to the stretch.

"Have you seen yourself?" He moaned. "You wouldn't be well-spoken either."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, resisted the urge to coax out more of those frustratingly endearing compliments and instead satisfied herself with rocking her hips on top of him, watching his reaction carefully as she rode him, the minute tensing in the tendons in his neck and the way he'd bite his lip when she shifted a certain way. It was something Lin prided herself in; the ability to deduce just how a lover wanted to be fucked. Of course, whether she complied to it or not was another matter entirely.

And yet this boy, he seemed happy just by watching her, eyes roaming hungrily over her breasts and hips as she sped up the pace.

He fit well inside her, just pushing the limit of what she could comfortably take and Lin moved her fingers to her clit while he resumed watched her, hungrily. There was another wave of tingling pleasure, this time up to her belly. Damn, but she hadn't planned to come this fast.

The boy could surprise her yet.

"I'm close," She gasped. "Fuck, I'm close."

He just moaned, supplementing her motions with an upward thrust of his own. The heat between her legs, the way he was hitting a spot deep inside of her- it was too much. The building tension in her belly snapped, Lin moaned in relief as the world around her muted and for a moment the only thing she could feel was the throbbing waves of her orgasm, the clenching of her muscles around him.

There was a harsh ripping sound; suddenly, Mako's hands were at her waist, her hips, tangling in her hair and dragging her mouth to his own again.

"That was so  _hot_ ," he breathed against her lips. "I never even imagined- you're incredible."

He lifted her from him and slid off the desk. Lin wrapped her legs around his hips, although the extra security wasn't needed- he was strong, easily able to carry the two of them, and she focused on trying to taste his tongue instead as he pressed her up against a wall. They were a mess- joined by sticky body fluids and stray hairs caught in sweat and Lin moaned appreciatively as he entered her again.

This time, he had the upper hand- and perhaps that was alright, Lin thought as he bit at her shoulder, fucking her roughly. He pressed her back into the cool stone and tangled his fingers hard in her hair and Lin once again inhaled the scent of his cologne, of his sweat, and flicked a tongue out, tasting some of the latter against his cheek. If he noticed, he only increased the pace.

He fucked her there just minutes longer before bending her over the desk, pressing her head into the surface and massaging her clit as he pounded into her from behind. Lin moaned against the metal, fogging it briefly as her muscles began to tighten again.

"I'm close-"

"Good," he moaned, thrusting harder into her until the stretch almost became painful, rubbing her clit between two fingers. And this time when Lin's orgasm pulsed through her belly she screamed, fisting a hand into the metal desk top for stability.

They collapsed to the ground and Lin briefly enjoyed the cool stone floor against her sweat-slicked and bitten back while the boy reentered her. She wrapped her legs around his ass securely and he grinned, uncertainly, at her.

"Need a break?"

"I'm not as old as you seem to think I am, you know." She lifted a brow. Mako laughed and massaged his neck, already reddening with deep welts from Lin's lips. With his fair skin, he'd have to be hiding or explaining them away all week. Something about that sent a thrill through her belly.

He was still shaking, she noticed, as he fucked her there, trembling hands holding out Lin's own against the ground or threading through her hair or snaking around to her lower back and pulling her closer against him. Maybe he was just terrified of her, Lin thought. She couldn't decide if the idea exhilarated or saddened her.

He moaned a ragged breath in her ear. "I'm- I'm going to-"

"Come for me."

She concentrated on kissing his neck, at adding fresh love bites as his pace increased but instead he took her chin in his fingers, stopping her.

"Look-" he gasped. "Look at me."

She did, meeting his deep amber eyes with her own as he cursed and thrust deep into her one last time, moaning through his own orgasm as he spilled deep inside her.

They lay there for a few more minutes, allowing the chilly office air to dry their sweaty skin. Lin threaded her fingers through the boy's soft hair from his spot on her chest, searching for some semblance of regret for what they'd done, but there was none to be found. At least that was something. She breathed in; the room smelled of his cologne, of alcohol and sweat and  _want_  and she grinned a little; it had been a while since her office had smelled like that.

"I needed that," she heard herself say. Mako chuckled from beneath her.

"Me, too." He fingered the bone of her hip. "I needed that for years- thanks for seducing me, Chief."

Lin snorted. "Anytime, Kid."

"Really?" His eyes found hers- such a charming, excited expression, and Lin sighed resignedly. This would be a problem- it was a hard look to deny, even for her.

And the fact that he was a decent fuck didn't hurt his case, either.

She touched the ridge of his cheekbone. "Let's- let's just see what happens."

He leaned his head back on her chest, curling his fingers more securely around her waist. "Fine by me."


End file.
